Portable puppet theater

ABSTRACT

A portable puppet theater includes a pair of side walls and a front wall having a central opening which faces the audience, a plurality of inner walls defining one or more sceneries and a curtain, a cover element, which covers the side and front walls. The side and front walls are substantially vertical and hinged together to form a foldable structure which is adapted to alternate from a collapsed configuration with the walls in mutually overlapping relationship, and an upstanding configuration with the walls at right angles and substantially vertical, and vice versa. The cover element is in the form of a lid, with a flat central portion and upwardly folded edges to receive the inner walls and the foldable structure in the collapsed configuration. The cover element can be turned upside down with the folded edges facing downwards and contacting the side and front walls in the upstanding configuration.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally finds application in the field of board games and particularly relates to a portable puppet theater.

BACKGROUND ART

Structures in the form of a puppet theater, simply referred to hereinafter as “theater”, designed for use by children and adults, for entertainment and education of an audience of children of various ages, are known in the field of board games.

In order to emulate a real theater experience, the theater must be composed of a given number of basic components which are designed to be later assembled in the place in which the theater will be used.

A need felt by the users of such object is its portability, i.e. the possibility to assemble and disassemble and easily carry the theater from one place to another and when traveling, with no risk of damage and loss of essential components.

A further need is to minimize dimensions hence the entropic impact on the relevant space, e.g. a child's room, especially when it has a small size. Indeed, such objects typically have a bulky and permanent structure, and are not easily transportable.

This need can be only fulfilled by accepting small sizes but also using the foldable structures that can be orderly stored in a generally flat container.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,837,863 and 1,600,554 disclose portable puppet theaters comprising a carrying case and a structure in the case to assemble the puppet game. The structure comprises side walls, a rear curtain, a roof and a front portal, which are joined together by tabs and also by fastening means.

In U.S. Pat. No. 2,837,863, the rear curtain, which is used to conceal the puppeteer, hangs from a telescopic rod, which is fixed in through holes of the side walls and both the case and the foldable structure are formed from a cardboard blank with various fold lines. Furthermore, the case has handles attached to its blank.

One drawback of this prior art portable theater is that it is relatively complex and has 3D parts used to form both of the foldable structure and the case.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,368,188 discloses a theater that comprises a box-like element obtained from a flat die-cut blank with pre-fold lines and a separate sheet for the floor, which can be coupled to the bottom of the structure by means of tabs fitting into slots. The theater has a book applied proximate to the rear wall, with pages changing by rotation about a spiral.

No container is provided in this theater, and once the parts of the structure have been disassembled, they cannot be stored and protected during transport, which involves the risk of loss and damage.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,426 discloses a portable theater comprising a base, hinged and folding side and bottom walls, a front portal, a base and a series of side panels or curtains. The latter hang from rod-like support elements whose ends may rest on the recesses formed along the upper edges of the side walls of the foldable structure.

KR20100008300 discloses a theater having a pair of side walls and a front wall hinged together to form a foldable structure that is adapted to alternate from a collapsed configuration to an upstanding configuration. Furthermore, in the upstanding configuration, the side walls are joined to the front wall by resilient support means that are adapted to hold the structure in the upstanding configuration.

Once again, in the latter cases, no container is provided to store the various parts of the theater and facilitate transport and protection thereof as it is being transferred from one place to another.

TECHNICAL PROBLEM

In view of the prior art, the technical problem addressed by the present invention may be deemed to be the provision of a compact and easily transportable portable puppet theater having a very simple and effective structure.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to solve the aforementioned problem by providing a portable puppet theater that is highly efficient and relatively cost-effective.

A particular object of the present invention is to provide a theater that takes up a very little space, while providing all the features of a typical puppet puppet theater.

These and other objects, as more clearly explained hereinafter, are fulfilled by a portable puppet theater as defined in claim 1, which comprises a pair of side walls and a front wall having a central opening designed to face the audience, a plurality of inner walls defining one or more sceneries and a curtain, a substantially horizontal cover element, which is adapted to cover said side walls and said front wall in a substantially vertical position, said side walls and said front wall being hinged together to form a foldable structure that is adapted to alternate from a collapsed configuration with said walls in mutually overlapping relationship, and an upstanding configuration with said walls at right angles and substantially vertical, and vice versa.

The cover element is in the form of a lid with a flat central portion and edges folded upwards to receive therein said inner walls and said load-bearing structure in the collapsed configuration, said cover element being adapted to be turned upside down with its edges facing downwards and contacting said side walls and said front wall in the vertical position, said flat central portion of said cover element having a plurality of slits to allow said inner walls to be removably introduced therein from the top to positions facing said central opening.

In one embodiment as shown and described, the slits are substantially parallel, a series of rear slits are designed to receive th3e sceneries and a front slit of the cover element is designed to receiver the curtain.

Conveniently, the slits extend to a length that is slightly greater than the width of the inner walls to facilitate introduction thereof from the top into the corresponding slits.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the inner walls have appendages at a top edge thereof, which extend beyond the ends of the slits to rest on the flat portion and hold the inner walls that have been introduced into the slits in a hanging state.

In one embodiment as shown in the figures, the slits of the series designed to receive the sceneries are suitably spaced apart from the slit designed to receive the curtain to facilitate the introduction of one or more puppets.

Preferably, the front wall and the side walls of the foldable structure are formed from a unit panel of a sheet material, such as cardboard, plastified paper or a plastic laminate, which is suitably die-cut and formed with fold lines to define adjacent mutually hinged partial panels that can be folded upon themselves.

Advantageously, in the vertical configuration, the partial panels have corresponding upwardly extending tabs adapted to fit into corresponding slots formed in the flat portion of the cover element to stabilize the foldable structure with its side and front walls in the upstanding configuration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features and advantages of the invention will be more apparent from the detailed description of a preferred, non-exclusive embodiment of a portable puppet theater according to the invention, which is described as a non-limiting example with the help of the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the portable puppet theater of the invention in the upstanding configuration;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are front and rear perspective views of the theater respectively;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the theater of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 5 to 7 are plan views of the theater of FIG. 4;

FIGS. 8 and 9 are perspective views of the puppets of the theater of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of the theater of FIG. 1 and the container;

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a detail of the theater of FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT

Particularly referring to the figures, there is shown a portable puppet theater, generally designated by numeral 1, which is designed for use by by users such as children and adults for entertainment and education of an audience of children of various ages.

As shown in FIG. 1, the theater 1 comprises a pair of side walls 2, a front wall 3 having a central opening 4 which is designed to face the audience, a plurality of inner walls 5 defining one or more sceneries 5A and a curtain 5B, and a cover element 6, which is adapted to cover the side walls 2 and the front wall 3.

As is known per se, the side walls 2 and the front wall 3 are substantially vertical and hinged together to form a foldable structure 7 which is adapted to alternate from a collapsed configuration with the walls 2, 3 in mutually overlapping relationship, and an upstanding configuration with the walls 2, 3 at right angles and substantially vertical, and vice versa.

As used hereinafter, the term “collapsed configuration” is intended to designate a folded configuration in which the side walls 2 and the front wall 3 of the foldable structure 7 overlap to form a folded flattened structure during storage to minimize bulk.

In addition, as used hereinafter the term “upstanding configuration” is intended to designate a configuration in which the theater 1 forms a deployed structure for use, which is vertically arranged, substantially orthogonal to a support surface.

Advantageously, the front wall 3 and the side walls 2 of the foldable structure 7 are formed from a unit panel 8 of a sheet material selected from the group comprising cardboard, plastified paper or a plastic laminate or a similar material, as long as it has high ductility properties.

Furthermore, the unit panel 8 is suitably die-cut and formed with fold lines 9 to define adjacent mutually hinged partial panels 10 that can be folded upon themselves, to alternate from the collapsed configuration to the upstanding configuration.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the partial panels 10 may be at least four in number, a first pair of adjacent partial panels 10A defining the front wall 3 and a second pair of end partial panels 10B being adapted to define the pair of side walls 2, as shown in FIG. 7.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, as shown in the figures, the unit panel 8 has a bottom edge 11 and a top edge 12. In the upstanding configuration of the theater 1, the top edge 12 faces upwards, and the bottom edge 11 rests on a support surface, the latter not being shown.

Preferably, the fold lines 9 of the partial panels 10 may extend from the bottom edge 11 to the top edge 12 and orthogonal thereto.

In a peculiar aspect of the invention, the cover element 6 is in the form of a lid with a flat central portion 13 and edges 14 folded upwards to receive therein the inner walls 5 and the foldable structure 7 in the collapsed configuration and is adapted to be turned upside down with the folded edges 14 facing downwards and contacting the side walls 2 and the front wall 3 in the upstanding configuration.

Furthermore, the flat central portion 13 of the cover element 6 has a plurality of slits 15 to allow the inner walls 5 to be removably introduced therein from the top to positions facing the central opening 4.

Thus, as best shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the cover element 6 is also suitably die-cut and formed with fold lines 9 to define the flat central portion 13. It shall be noted that the edges 14 are folded at right angles to the central portion 13.

Advantageously, in the upstanding vertical configuration, the partial panels 10 of the foldable structure 7 have corresponding upwardly extending tabs 16 adapted to fit into corresponding slots 17 formed in the flat central portion 13 of the cover element 6 to stabilize the foldable structure 7 with its side walls 2 and front wall 3 in the upstanding configuration.

In the illustrated embodiment, the tabs 16 are formed on the top edge 12 of the unit panel 8 and each partial panel 10 comprises a respective tongue 16 aligned with the corresponding slot 17 when the foldable structure 7 is in the upstanding configuration.

In particular, the slots 17 are formed proximate to the fold lines 9 of the cover element 6, between the flat central portion 13 and the folded edges 14 such that, in the upstanding configuration, the cover element 6 will not extend beyond the side walls 2 and the front wall 3, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the plurality of slits 15 of the cover element 6 are substantially parallel, and the cover element 6 comprises a series of rear slits 15A designed to receive the sceneries 5A and a front slot 15B designed to receive the curtain 5B.

Alternatively, the slits 15 may also not be parallel, without departure from the scope of the present invention.

Conveniently, the slits 15 extend to a length l₁ that is slightly greater than the width l₂ of the inner walls 5 to facilitate introduction thereof from the top into the corresponding slits 15.

Furthermore, the inner walls 5 have appendages 18 at a top edge thereof, which extend beyond the ends of the slits 15 to rest on the flat central portion 13 and hold the inner walls 5 that have been introduced into the slits 15 in a hanging state.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the appendages 18 are large enough to extend the length of the inner walls to a length l₃ which is slightly greater than the length l₁ of the slits 15, to prevent the inner walls 5 from slipping into the theater 1 as they are being introduced into the slits 15.

It shall be noted that, in the upstanding configuration of the foldable structure 7, as shown in FIG. 1, with one inner wall 5A fully introduced into its respective slit 15A, the appendages 18 do not extend beyond the fold lines 9 of the flat central portion 13 of the cover element 6.

In the embodiment as shown in the figures, the slits 15A of the series designed to receive the sceneries 5A are suitably spaced apart from the slit 15B designed to receive the curtain 5B to facilitate the introduction of one or more puppets 19 between the curtain and the scenery.

As is known per se, the central opening 4 has a substantially rectangular shape and comprises dimensions adapted to allow the user of the theater 1 to introduce one hand and facilitate the introduction of the puppets 19 between the curtain 5B and sceneries 5A.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, not shown, an additional series of openings may be formed in the side walls 2 and at the bottom edge 11 of the unit panel 8, for the puppets 19 to be dynamically positioned and moved without exposing the hands of the user to the view of the audience through its central opening 4.

The puppets 19 may comprise substantially L-shaped figures with an elongate body 20 having a strip 21 of flexible material extending therefrom, with one end 21′ adapted to fit into longitudinal slots 22 to hold the strip 21 in a position perpendicular to the elongate body 20 and to retain the puppet 19 or hold it in an upright configuration, as schematically shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

Alternatively the elongate body 20 of the puppets 19 may fit into the slots 17 of the cover element 6 and the strips 21 may be retained by the longitudinal slots 20, resting on the flat central portion 13, which will prevent them from falling into the theater 1.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the puppets 19 are printed on a 2D sheet medium, but different media may be also used, such as 3D prints, without departure from the scope of the present invention.

According to a particular aspect of the invention, the theater 1 comprises an outer container consisting of a base box 23 adapted to receive therein the cover element 6 which in turn stores the foldable structure 7 in the collapsed state, the inner walls 5 and the puppets 19, as shown in FIG. 10.

Also, an upper box 24 is also provided, which is designed to be closed on the base box 23 for orderly transport of the theater 1 in a theater form without no risk of loss or damage of its essential components.

Thus, the theater 1 will take up very little space, while providing all the features of a typical puppet theater.

Preferably, the outer container may contain editorial material selected from the group comprising stories, scripts, paper accessories for customization of the puppets or other equivalent material adapted to fulfill the purposes of the stories that will be proposed.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIG. 11, the first pair of panels 10A defining the front wall 3 may be equipped with reinforcement means 25 adapted to hold the coplanar panels 10 a in an upstanding configuration, to thereby prevent the theater 1 to undesirably alternate from the upstanding configuration to the collapsed configuration.

The reinforcement means may comprise a strip of a sheet material 25A with ends adapted to fit into buckles or pockets 25B formed on each of the adjacent partial panels 10A of the first pair.

In operation, the theater 1 is assembled as follows.

First the upper box 24 is detached from the base box 23 to allow the user to access the container, and then the puppets 19, the inner walls 5 and the foldable structure 7 are removed from the cover element 6.

Later, the foldable structure 7 is deployed from a collapsed configuration with the walls 2, 3 in mutually overlapping relationship, to an upstanding configuration with the side walls 2 at right angles to the front wall 3 and the bottom edge 11 of the unit element 8 resting on a support base.

The cover element 6 is turned upside down with the folded edges 14 facing downwards and contacting the side walls 2 and the front wall 3 in an upstanding configuration, such that the tabs 16 of the first pair of adjacent panels 10A and the second pair of end panels 10B will fit into the respective slots 17 of the cover element 6.

Now, the curtain 5B will be simply introduced into the front slit 15 b of the cover element 6, the sceneries 5A will be introduced into the corresponding rear slits 15A and the puppets 19 will be mounted by fitting the end 21′ of the strip 21 into the longitudinal slots 22 of the elongate body 20 to arrange it on the support surface.

Alternatively, a different assembly sequence may be also used, without departure from the scope of the present invention.

For example, once the foldable structure 7 has been deployed, the strip of sheet material 25A may fit into the reinforcement means 25B to hold the coplanar partial panels 10A in the upstanding configuration.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the theater 1 fulfills the intended objects and particularly has a compact and easily transportable configuration and a very simple and effective structure.

The theater of the invention is susceptible of a number of changes and variants, within the inventive concept disclosed in the appended claims.

While the theater has been described with particular reference to the accompanying figures, the numerals referred to in the disclosure and claims are only used for the sake of a better understanding of the invention and shall not be intended to limit the claimed scope in any manner.

Reference herein to “one embodiment” or “the embodiment” or “some embodiments” indicates that a particular characteristic, structure or element that is being described is included in at least one embodiment of the inventive subject matter.

Furthermore, the particular characteristics, structures or elements may be combined together in any suitable manner to provide one or more embodiments.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention may find application in industry, because it can be produced on an industrial scale in the field of board games. 

1. A portable puppet theater (1) comprising a pair of side walls (2) and a front wall (3) having a central opening (4) which is designed to face an audience, a plurality of inner walls (5) defining one or more sceneries (5A) and a curtain (5B), a cover element (6) adapted to cover said side walls (2) and said front wall (3), said side walls (2) and said front wall (3) being substantially vertical and hinged together to form a foldable structure (7) which is adapted to alternate from a collapsed configuration with said walls (2, 3) in mutually overlapping relationship and an upstanding configuration with said walls (2, 3) at right angles and substantially vertical, and vice versa, said cover element (6) being in the form of lid, with a flat central portion (13) and upwardly folded edges (14) to receive therein said inner walls (5) and said foldable structure (7) in the collapsed configuration, said cover element (6) being adapted to be turned upside down with said folded edges (14) facing downwards and contacting said side walls (2) and said front wall (3) in an upright configuration, said flat central portion (13) of said cover element (6) having a plurality of slits (15) to allow said inner walls (5) to be removably introduced from the top to positions facing said central opening (4).
 2. The theater as claimed in claim 1, wherein said slits (15) are substantially parallel, a series of said rear slits (15A) being designed to receive the sceneries (5A), a front slit (15B) of said cover element (6) being designed to receive the curtain (5B).
 3. The theater as claimed in claim 1, wherein said slits (15) extend to a length (l₁) that is slightly greater than the width (l₂) of said inner walls (5) to facilitate introduction thereof from the top into the corresponding slits (15).
 4. The theater as claimed in claim 1, wherein said inner walls (5) have appendages (18) at a top edge thereof, which extend beyond the ends of said slits (15) to rest on said flat central portion (13) and hold said inner walls (5) that have been introduced into said slits (15) in a hanging state.
 5. The theater as claimed in claim 2, wherein the slits (15A) of said series designed to receive the sceneries (5A) are suitably spaced apart from the slit (15B) designed to receive the curtain (5B) to facilitate the introduction of said one or more puppets (19).
 6. The theater as claimed in claim 1, wherein said front wall (3) and said side walls (2) of said foldable structure (7) are formed from a unitary panel (8) of a sheet material, such as cardboard, plasticized paper or a plastic laminate, which is suitably die-cut and formed with fold lines (9) to define adjacent mutually hinged partial panels that can be folded upon themselves.
 7. The theater as claimed in claim 6, wherein said partial panels (10) are at least four in number a first pair of adjacent panels (10A) defining together said front wall (3) and a second pair of end panels (10B) defining said pair of side walls (2).
 8. The theater as claimed in claim 6, wherein said partial panels (10) have corresponding upwardly extending tabs (16) adapted to fit into corresponding slots (17) formed in said flat central portion (13) of said cover element (6) to stabilize said foldable structure (7) with its side walls (2) and front wall (3) in an upstanding configuration.
 9. The theater as claimed in claim 7, wherein said first pair of partial panels (10A) defining said front wall (3) is formed with reinforcement means to keep said first pair of partial panels (10A) coplanar in an upstanding configuration.
 10. The theater as claimed in claim 9, wherein said reinforcing means comprise a strip of a sheet material with ends adapted to fit into buckles or pockets formed on each of said partial panels (10A).
 11. The theater as claimed in claim 5, wherein said one or more puppets (19) are substantially L-shaped figures with an elongate body (20) having a strip (21) of flexible material extending therefrom, with one end (21′) adapted to fit into longitudinal slots (22) to hold said strip (21) in a position perpendicular to said elongate body (20) and to retain the puppet (19) or hold it in an upright configuration.
 12. The theater as claimed in claim 11, wherein said puppets are printed on a 2D or 3D sheet medium.
 13. The theater as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an outer container consisting of a base box (23) adapted to accommodate therein said cover element (6) which in turn stores said folding structure (7) in the collapsed state, said inner walls (5) and said puppets (19), and an upper box (24) which can be closed on said base box (23) for orderly transport of the theater (1) with no risk of loss or damage of its essential components. 